Rules to Follow for Kosher Eating

Kashrut: Keeping Kosher

We’re all pretty familiar with the word, “kosher.” It’s on tons of foods at
grocery stores, restaurant menus, and the English language has adopted it to
mean “legitimate” (it comes from Hebrew and means “to fit”). While it’s great
that we’re open to accepting new words, many fail to realize exactly what it is
and that keeping kosher is harder than we think. In fact, only about 21% of
practicing Jews report that they keep kosher at home and 1/6th of American Jews
maintain a completely kosher diet.

Kashrut, the set of Jewish dietary laws, is pretty strict. It’s a popular
misconception that kosher foods are just those that are blessed by a rabbi, and
while that’s always nice, keeping kosher requires a lot more work than simply
reading food labels. There are certain animals which cannot be eaten. By Jewish
law, only animals that are cloven and chew their cud can be ingested. Animals
such as hares and pigs, therefore, cannot be eaten. Also on the do not eat list
are all rodents, reptiles, amphibians, and insects (with the exception of a type
of locust that’s no longer in existence). And it’s not just the meat of these
animals that can’t be eaten, but their byproducts. Even the animals that can be
eaten have certain parts of them that cannot be ingested, and the way in which
they must be killed is quite specific.

Shechita is the special method of slaughter that must be used in order for meats
to be in accordance with the kashrut. And while killing animals is sort of a
grim topic, it’s part of life, and kosher slaughterhouses and butchers are
actually the most humane – and sanitary, hence why they’re exempt from USDA
regulations. Shechita allows the animals to be killed quickly, without feeling
pain. Kosher slaughtering ensures that animals with diseases cannot be consumed
nor if they’re killed by another animal. To make sure of this, the animals get
thoroughly inspected, which is why it has a rap for being the best on the
market.

The other thing about meat is that it cannot be mixed with dairy. (This is where
keeping kosher gets pretty complicated.) Now, let it be known that the
consumption of fish is an entirely subject because it’s not counted as meat. To
eat fish, it has to have scales and fins. So, if you’re thinking about becoming
kosher, remember that you’ll be adiosing shellfish altogether. But at least
mixing fish with diary is a-ok (because so many delicious recipes call for
that…). However, a pepperoni pizza is certainly out of the question. The Torah
prohibits, “seeing the kid [goat, sheep, or calf] in its mother’s milk.” They
think it’s pretty insensitive. And that certainly does sound wrong when you put
it like that…

After consuming meat, one has to wait between 1 and 6 hours to consume dairy, or
vice versa. But meat and dairy have to be separated everywhere – not just in the
stomach. In order to keep with the kashrut, separate utensils, pots, pans,
plates, and flatware are needed for dairy and meat. People with dishwashers
either need to invest in two separate ones or assign separate shelves for their
dirty dishes – because even when being cleaned, they can’t come into contact
with one another.

Pareve foods, or those that are neither meat nor dairy, have very few rules
regarding their consumption. Fruits and vegetables are all kosher, but should
only be picked after the plant or tree’s 3rd year.
Many of these dietary laws were to help keep people from getting sick thousands
of years ago, and though much of the kashrut doesn’t really apply in modern
times, there was surely a reason for their creation. For non-Jews, food that’s
kosher is seen as cleaner, neater, and healthier. And while such views may not
be completely valid, the ritualistic, time-consuming process of preparing a
kosher meal is certainly something to be respected and honored in our busy world
of unceremoniously eating whatever is put in front of us.

About the Author:

Katie Strawis the Gourmet Scribe at GourmetGiftBaskets.com, one of the top suppliers of gift baskets in the nation, and currently resides in Manchester, New Hampshire.